Beatriz Luengo recounts the drama of her husband’s forced exile: “Yotuel cannot return to Cuba”

She is the woman of a thousand faces and who does not brag about her successes, which are many and some in Grammy format.. We met Beatriz in the series A step forward and, since then, it has not stopped growing. She is the author of great musical hits, dancer, actress… today she returns to the present with her second novel, Until the songs run out. He does it the same week that he was a talisman for the Pasapalabra contestant, Oscar Díaz, since he experienced firsthand how he got hold of the donut and won 1,816,000 euros.

Second novel and new challenge for a woman who has a thousand artistic facets and I don’t know if she has time for everything.

BL: For me it is an evolution. Actually, when you have been trying every day for fifteen years to tell stories in three-minute songs, you will come across my first work. The awakening of the muses It was a liberation from the impressive role because I didn’t have to synthesize. So there were twelve stories of great women in one book and after that experience I understood that I needed to write my first novel and that it was just a complete story where I could develop myself to the fullest.

How does this story of families with secrets that reach the grave and loves of two people who come from two different worlds like Colombia and Spain come about?

BL: I needed to talk about an interracial couple or at least with two different cultures. When I started with Yotuel everyone said that we were not going to last because of how different we were. Today they ask me how we manage to continue well for so many years and I think it is because every day we discover things that have to do with cultural difference. When it comes to educating our children, and even more so now that we live in the United States where children do not speak Spanish in schools, I think it is essential to add cultures. My children speak Spanish at home and are very proud to know that they have such wonderful influences as Spanish and Cuban. That is why it was necessary to claim the importance of each origin and understand that adding two cultures is enriching and not subtracting.

I wanted to capture in a love story how differences help and allow many pieces to be reconstructed. The other issue that I address in the book arose after reading an article where it was said that the first person in the world who wanted to create a legal cushion to be able to leave his entire legacy to his dog was a Spanish woman in the early 1900s. She did not succeed, but in Spain the law for animals has changed and they now have other rights. I know this has already happened in other countries and I don’t think it will take long here. It is a topic that has opened a social debate and we will soon have that situation. Consider that in Spain there are 14 million pets registered in homes compared to 7 million children under six years of age. For different reasons, motherhood is becoming a less popular option in the face of the increase in pets in homes.

Inheritances are often a reason for family breakdown. In her novel it is certainly reflected perfectly. Has something like this happened to you at her house?

BL: Thank God my parents are alive and we have not gone through that situation, but I have done a lot of research on the topic of legacies and obviously I reflect on the human quality that we see every day as well as a reading of social networks. Many times decisions are made just to live in a continuous showcase and it is interesting to know how far people go to maintain what they believe is theirs. Basically my message is that we have to live life regardless of what others think, something that we forget too much.

What is your life like today in the United States?

BL: I came for six months and twelve years have already passed. Every day I think that in a year I will return to Spain, a country that I miss, but in Miami I have found many possibilities. I have had to adapt to a different society, especially because of my role as a composer, since in the end I have to write for artists from all over. In Miami there are many people without families, in a place where you work non-stop and that is why you learn to make your friends your family. I think you have to write about what you know so that deep down what you do has something of you. Living in Miami has given me a special openness to experiences and situations.

Even so, every morning he considers his return. Are you worried that his children will lose their Spanish roots?

BL: I convey to them every day that they are Spanish and Cuban, although they were born in Miami. When my daughter is asked where she is from, she answers that she is Spanish, Cuban and Flemish. My son is always dressed in Real Madrid clothes and I know that they want to be in Spain for a long time because they also travel as much as we can. They love it and enjoy it. I reinforce my son’s writing in Spanish so that the day we return he can understand it perfectly.

Can you explain to me how you and Yotuel manage to remain so united after the years?

BL: With Yotuel I feel like I discover something new every day. A word, a movie from your childhood, a fruit… the difference makes us strong and hence the need to write about it.

I understand that love will be the first meeting point.

BL: Of course it’s the first. I adore him above myself and every day I think about how lucky I am to have a man who in all these years has helped me be a better person and with whom I have been able to rebuild my pieces. I met her when she was 19 in the series and she was very insecure and shy. With him, those insecurities became the most beautiful thing I have, as it was my height that caused me a problem and even my body was full of insecurities. In his eyes it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and although it may seem silly, it served to fill me with strength and reinforce my self-esteem. There will be those who achieve it on their own, and I value it, but for me Yotuel has helped me see myself from the outside with different eyes and validate myself more.

It is also important that over the years they can grow together in the same direction.

BL: Of course. We have evolved in the same way and we have shared important decisions. We always agreed on big changes, such as where to live or the arrival of children. Our luck is that we have been super alienated at crucial moments.

Can your husband travel to Cuba?

BL: They don’t let him. we made the song Homeland lifeI composed it and he sang it, it won a Grammy for Urban Song of the Year, we were received at the White House, the lyrics are on a page of the United States Congress next to Martin Luther King’s speech so that future generations Know that it was an anthem of freedom, but in Cuba, as happened with Celia Cruz, it was decided that all the singers who had awakened a wave of hope for the Cuban people could not return.

The bitter part of life has that face.

BL: I live with a man who hurts for his country. He says that they have stolen the opportunity to walk with his children and show them his house, his school, be with his family… I live next to him in exile and I will tell you that he dreams of Cuba every day. He is a thorn that hurts a lot but also makes him very united to a community of people who are going through that situation. But I, who see it every morning, it hurts me greatly and I cannot accept how overnight they prevent you from returning to your country just for asking for a change. What you feel is very strong. Yotuel says that one can live in many places but there is only one place that lives within each one and for him it is Cuba.

What new projects are you working on now?

BL: I just spent three months in Spain, which is a record. I have danced on Anne Igartiburu’s program, I have just finished an album, I am at festivals carrying the documentary of Homeland and life…

How do you rest?

BL: Working together we decided that when we got home we wouldn’t talk about work. The moment we pass the door we focus on our family and leave everything outside, we know how to completely disconnect.

Test

Where has it dawned?

BL: In my house in Miami.

When did you last cry?

BL: Yesterday when my children came to pick me up at the airport with a little balloon.

Do you remember your last lie?

BL: I am one of those who think that the truth is overrated when it is going to hurt someone. Mine are white lies.

What is your most expensive investment?

BL: The dance school I have in Madrid.

When was the last time you got naked in front of someone?

BL: A moment ago in the gym.

What do you dislike most about yourself?

BL: Many things, but to highlight something I will tell you that I am very stubborn and it is difficult for me to delegate… I am very hard on myself.

Tell me an embarrassing situation that you have experienced and do not forget.

BL: Since I was a child I have been dyslexic with people’s names and you don’t see how many absurd situations it generates for me and I already notice it when I meet people. For example, I call Caetano Veloso Velencoso as the model.

What would you do if you were invisible?

BL: I would like to enter into conversations to find out what some people say about me.

Have you ever stolen anything?

BL: When I was seven years old I was in my neighborhood shopping center and pushed by my friends I went in to grab two pieces of gum. As soon as I did, the manager grabbed me by the hood and called my family. Don’t see the one that was set up at home. But she looks at what life is like. When the years passed, I bought that place for my school and left the same woman who caught me as a child as an employee. I thanked him for giving me that life lesson.